Boat anchor

ABSTRACT

An anchor for mooring a water craft to a shore or beach that included a straight shaft that is pointed on one end and is arranged on connecting to a torque producing device on its other end. The shaft includes an auger fixed thereto adjacent to the pointed end and is to loosely fitted into a cylindrical tube wherefrom fins or blades are attached to extend oppositely outwardly from the cylindrical tube sides that are sloped outwardly from their lower ends to facilitate their travel into the shore or beach. A torque applying handle or driver is provided for attachment to the shaft other end, and a mooring line connector is secured to the cylindrical tube, adjacent to a top end thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a boat anchors.

2. Prior Art

Previously boat anchors have generally consisted of large heavy weightsfor positioning on a shore and connect to a floating device, such as aboat, by a line. Like the invention, the objective of earlier anchors isto prohibit a floatation device, such as a boat, from floating away fromthe shore. The majority of such anchors are designed to work bysubmerging the anchor attached by a line, chain, or the like, to afloating device. Such anchors have protruding arms or mechanical devicesdesigned to either dig into the sea floor soil or catch outcroppings inthe bottom of the body of water.

Where the water craft is a boat that has moved near to a shore or beach,traditional anchors are not designed to stabilize the boat to the shore.Traditionally, permanently fixed structures are constructed to allowboats to be secured to a shore. In locations where permanently fixedstructures are not available, boat owners have generally attempted tosecure the boat to such shores in variety of ways.

A general practice to secure a boat to a shore or beach has consisted ofhammering large stakes into the shore or beach Such stakes, however,have substantial drawbacks in that, unless the stakes are drivenespecially deep, the stakes can easily break free and thereby notadequately secure the boat. Whereas, if the stakes are deeply driven,removing the stakes takes great effort.

Another common practice employed by boat owners is to take thetraditional boat anchor and place it into a hole. This method has thesame limitations as driving stakes into the ground. To properly securethe boat, the hole has to be deep enough to provide the resistance tothe forces as are applied to the boat, such as tides, winds and waveaction. Also, removing such traditional boat anchor usually requiresdigging up the anchor.

For various reasons a boat anchor may be required to be moved severaltimes in a short period of time. Prior to the invention, the anchorslisted above have required great effort and time, and none have providedthe stability to secure a heavy object, such as a boat, and are easilyinstalled and removed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a device for anchoring a boat or otherfloatation devices to a shore or beach. The invention includes a shaftwith an auger or screw located at the end of the shaft. On the oppositeend of the shaft is provided a device for creating torque, generally ahand bar. However, such devise for providing torque may be either a handbar or a power device for turning a driver fitted into a cavity that hasbeen formed into a shaft top end.

A hollow tube or cylinder is fitted over a shaft end to slide along theshaft for positioning between the auger or screw end and the oppositeshaft end and has an inner diameter that is sufficiently greater thanthe shaft diameter to allow for free passage of sand and small rocks outfrom between the shaft and tube or cylinder inner surface. Multiplevanes are attached to the outside of the hollow cylindrical tube, andthe tube or cylinder includes a ring, or other devise fixed onto itsouter tube surface that is for tying a mooring line to the anchor. As analternative to the ring, a self locking device can be fitted thereto toassist in securing the mooring line to the anchor.

A torque applied to the shaft turns the auger to dig or screw the shaftauger end into the shore or beach, pulling the blades extending out fromthe hollow cylindrical tube outer surface into the shore or beach. Soinstalled, the vanes utilize the resistance of the shore or beachmaterial to prevent the anchor from moving. The anchor is removed byreversing the torque direction applied to the shaft, with the arguerblades pushing the blades out of the soil.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a boat anchor withinstalled line that is easily, efficiently and securely turned into ashore or beach for anchoring a water craft.

Another object of the invention is to provide a boat anchor that iseasily removed from the shore or beach and is structured to facilitatecleaning debris from between the opposing shaft and cylinder walls.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a boat anchor whoseauger end can be turned manually or by a driver for applying a torque toturn the boat anchor cylindrical tube portion into a shore or beach,pulling blades or fins that extend at right angles outwardly from theouter surface of the cylindrical tube into the shore or beach, securelyanchoring the device into the shore or beach, and is easily removed byapplying a reverse torque to the auger, turning it out of the shore orbeach.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may take form in the arrangement of component parts thatare herein shown as preferred embodiments and will be described indetail and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form a parthereof:

FIG. 1 Shows a typical use of a boat anchor of the invention fortethering a boat to a shore or beach;

FIG. 2. Shows a profile perspective view of the boat anchor of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 Shows a front elevation view of the boat anchor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 Shows an exploded view of the boat anchor of FIG. 2, illustratinghow an anchor shaft slides through a hollow anchor cylindrical tube, andhow a hand bar is attached to the shaft;

FIG. 5 Shows a side elevation view of the boat anchor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 Shows a side elevation view of the boat anchor of the inventionthat is shown as including a drive adapter that is capable of applying arotational torque to a drive cavity arranged on an anchor shaft headend, showing an anchor cylindrical tube as including a longitudinalslot, and showing a mooring line locking device; and

FIG. 7 Shows a profile sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6illustrating the relationship of the outer and inner diameters,respectively, of the anchor shaft and cylindrical tube to provide adesired gap between the shaft outer surface and the cylindrical tubeinner surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A first embodiment of a boat anchor 10 of the invention, hereinafterreferred to as anchor, is illustrated in FIG. 1, that shows the anchor10 positioned into the shore or beach 11, and shows a mooring line 12attaching a water craft, shown as a boat 13, to the anchor 11. Inpractice, multiple anchors 10 may be utilized to secure differentsections of the boat 13, and, of course, the anchor 10 may be utilizedto secure any type of floatation device.

FIG. 2 shows an overall view of the anchor 10 as comprising a verticalshaft 14 that extends the entire length of the anchor 10. A pointed tip15 is formed at the end of the shaft 14 that assists in inserting thevertical shaft 14 into the ground 11. Proceeding upwards along thelongitudinal axis of the vertical shaft 14, an auger or screw 16 isshown as having two screw turns or vertical revolutions about the shaft14 and is spaced apart from the pointed tip 15. It should, however, beunderstood that the auger or screw 16 may make only one turn, or morethan two turns or vertical revolutions about the shaft 14, within thescope of this disclosure.

A cylindrical tube 17 is fitted over the shaft 14, above the auger 15,that is shown in FIG. 4 exploded apart therefrom. The cylindrical tube17 is to slide freely along the longitudinal axis of the shaft 14 andits inner wall is spaced apart from the shaft 14 outer surface a desireddistance, as shown best in FIG. 7. This spacing distance provides anopen area between the opposing surfaces of the shaft 14 and cylindricaltube 17 that allows water and debris to freely travel out of the anchor10, during its removal from a shore or beach, preventing corrosion onthe anchor.

Fins or blades 18 are attached and extend outwardly from opposite sidesof the cylindrical tube 17, aligning with the cylindrical tubelongitudinal axis. FIGS. 2 through 6 show two fins or blades 18connected to extend oppositely from the longitudinal axis of thecylindrical tube 17. It should, however, be understood, more than twosuch fins or blades, that are each connected along the cylindrical tubelongitudinal axis and are spaced equidistantly apart, may be used, asdescribed, within the scope of this disclosure. The fins or blades 18will generally extend outwardly from along the majority of the length ofthe longitudinal axis of the cylindrical tube 17. The portion of each ofthe blades that is nearest to the auger 16 are preferably taperedoutwardly from their lower ends. That taper is to assist the blade insetting the anchor into the beach or shore, as shown in FIG. 1.

A mooring ring 19 is shown in FIGS. 1 through 5, attached to the outersurface of the cylindrical tube 17, proximate to a top end thereof, thatis to receive the mooring line 12 fitted thereto, that, as shown in FIG.1, connects, on its opposite end, to boat 13. The size of the ring isdetermined by the type of mooring line anchor connection arrangement.Additionally, FIG. 6 shows a self locking mooring device as analternative to the mooring ring 19.

The shaft 14 top end 20, opposite to the pointed shaft end 15, is tocouple to a torque generation arrangement, that is shown as a hand bar21, in FIGS. 2 through 4. Which coupling is shown in FIGS. 2 through 4,as a lateral hole 22 that receives a cotter pin 23, bolt or likeconnector, not shown. With, in the arrangement of FIG. 6, the couplingis shown in broken lines as a sided hole 34, that receives a sideddriver fitted therein, as discussed below. Which coupling allows for theattachment of a hand bar 21, or other device or devices, for creatingtorque on the shaft 14.

Shown best in FIGS. 2 through 4, the hand bar 21 includes a solid bar 21a that is secured at its mid point across a hollow collar 21 b, and thehollow collar 21 b includes the lateral hole 22 that cotter pin 23 isshown fitted through, mounting the hand bar 20 onto the shaft 14 top end20. So arranged, the solid bar 21 a is perpendicular to the longitudinalaxis of the shaft 14, and the solid bar 21 a length is determined by theamount of torque that is anticipated to be required to turn the augeranchor 10 shaft 14 into the shore or beach. Different soils may requiredifferent length of hand bars 21 solid bars 21 a The hollow collar 21 bis connected onto, to extend from the center of, the solid bar 21 a,such that the hollow collar 21 b is perpendicular to the solid bar 21 a.The lateral hole 22 in the collar 21 b aligns across the center of thehollow collar to align with a hole 23 formed through the shaft 14, asshown in FIG. 4. With the hollow collar hole 22 and shaft hole 23 aaligned, a cotter pin 24 is fitted therethrough, securing the hand bar21 onto the shaft 14 top end 20.

FIG. 6 shows a power device 30 as an alternative to the hand bar 21. Thepower device 30 is shown as including a cylindrical center body 31wherefrom hand engaging bars 31 a extend from opposite ends of thecylindrical body 31. The power device has a sided drive 32 that isfitted through, to extend from, a center of a collar 33 that is securedto an undersurface of center body 31. The sided drive 32 is to fit intoan axial sided cavity 34 formed into a top end 36 of an adapter 35 thatis mounted onto the top end 20 of the shaft 14. Which coupling isillustrated as a pin 37 that is fitted through aligned holes through theadapter 35, and through the shaft hole 23 a, as shown in FIG. 4. Asshown in FIG. 6, the pin 37 is for maintaining the adapter 35 onto theshaft 14 end 20, and includes a head end 37 a for gripping by andoperator, and a pin body 37 b that is fitted through the aligned holesand has a lateral hole for receiving a straight leg of a clip 38 fittedtherethrough. As shown, the power device drive 32 functions as a quickrelease coupling into the sided cavity 34, functioning like aconventional socket drive and socket, for manual turning by an operatorgripping the ends of the hand engaging bar 31 a. While a manuallyoperated power device 30 is shown in FIG. 6 for applying a torque toshaft 14, it should be understood that a motor for turning the devicedrive 32 along with a power source, such as a battery and switch, arewithin the scope of this disclosure. Whether manual or motor driven, thepower device 30 provides for applying a torque to turn the shaft 14 asdescribed.

In operation, the anchor 10 vertical shaft 14 end 15 is urged into theshore or beach by creating rotational torque on the shaft 14, causingthe auger 16 to turn. When the turning auger 16 engages the surface ofthe shore or beach it turns therein and, with continued turning, alsopulls the cylindrical tube 17 that includes the fins or blades 18, intothat shore or beach. When the vertical cylindrical tube 17 has beeninserted to a desired depth, the torque applied to the auger 16 isstopped. A mooring line 12 is then attached to the ring 19 that islocated on the vertical cylindrical tube and has an appropriate centeropening to allow for different materials to be used as the mooring lineand to, as required, allow for fitting of more than one mooring linethereto. As an alternative to ring 18, a mooring line connection device50, that is self locking, is shown included with the auger anchor 10 ofFIG. 6 and is described below, that may be utilized for pulling taut andsecuring the mooring line 12 to anchor 10.

The mooring line connection device 50 is shown in FIG. 6 mounted onto atop end of cylindrical tube 17 and consists of a body 51 that isconnected along its edge 51 a to the side of the cylindrical tube 17,extending outwardly therefrom. A guide pulley 52 is mounted to the sideof the body 51 through a bearing to turn freely and receives the mooringline 12 that connects to a water craft, as indicated by an arrow A, andis passed around a pulley sheave 52 a. A pawl 53 is connected at 54 tothe side of the body 51, adjacent to the guide pulley 52, to pivot pawlteeth 54 into engagement with the mooring line 12 surface when a pawltrigger 56 is moved towards a section of the mooring line 12 that haspassed over the pulley sheave 52 a. So arranged, the mooring line 12 endsection opposite to the line coupling to a water craft, is fitted in thepulley sheave 52 a, around the guide pulley 51, passing freely betweenthe pawl teeth 54 and the pulley sheave 52 a, moving the water crafttowards the anchor 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1. With the mooring line12 taut between the anchor and water craft, the pawl trigger 56 isdepressed towards the mooring line 12, causing the pawl teeth 54 toengage and lock into the mooring line. To release which mooring line,the pawl trigger 56 is lifted off or the mooring line 12, releasing thepawl teeth 54 from the mooring line that can then pass out from aroundthe guide pulley 52.

In operation, applying a torque to the shaft 14 turns the shaft 14 andauger 16 into the shore or beach, pulling the cylindrical tube 17 andattached fins or blades 18 therewith. Portions of the shaft 14 andcylindrical tube 17 travel into the shore or beach collecting debrisbetween the opposing shaft and cylindrical tube surfaces that, if notremoved, may later hinder removal or re-installation of the auger anchor10. To facilitate such debris removal the cylindrical tube 17 of FIGS. 5and 6 is shown as including an optional longitudinal slot 60 that watermay be passed through to clean out collected debris. Additionally, tofurther facilitate removal of debris from between the shaft 14 andcylindrical tube 17 opposing surfaces, a space or gap 61 is providedbetween the opposing outer surface of shaft 14 and inner surface ofcylindrical tube 17. This space or gap encourages an out flow ofcollected debris material after removal of the anchor 10 from the shortor beach. In practice, by a selection of a shaft 14 having anappropriate outside diameter B to accommodate a cylindrical tube 17 thathas an appropriate inside diameter C, with the shaft centered in thecylindrical tube, an appropriate space or gap 61 is provided that is ofa size to encourage discharge of collected debris after anchor 10removal from the shore or beach. In practice, the respective diameters Band C of the shaft and cylindrical tube are selected to provide a spaceor gap 61 of approximately one eighth to one half of an inch.Incorporation of the space or gap 61 will facilitate prevention ofcollected debris from remaining in the cylindrical tube 17 as couldcause undue friction between the shaft and the tube that could preventthe rotational movement of the shaft. In addition, the presence of spaceor gap 61 will assist in preventing the anchor material from corroding.

While a preferred embodiment of my invention in a boat anchor has beenshown and described herein, it should be understood, that although thedescription above contains many specificities, these should not beconstrued as limiting the scope of the embodiment but as merelyproviding illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodimentcomponents. Thus, the scope of the embodiment should be determined bythe appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by theexamples given.

1. A boat anchor comprising, a vertical shaft having a first lower and asecond upper ends, where said first end is shaped to have a pointed tip,and said shaft first end, adjacent to said pointed end, includes aspiral, screw, or auger device located on the exterior surface of saidshaft, and said shaft second end includes a centrally located cavityformed to receiver a driver means fitted therein; a cylindrical tube isprovided for loosely fitting over said shaft between said first andsecond shaft ends to be in a sliding relationship; at least a pair ofblades or fins are individually attached to extend outwardly from theexterior surface of said cylindrical tube and a mooring line attachmentmeans is fixed to said cylindrical tube outer surface for maintaining amooring line thereto; and a torque producing device is arranged forconnection to said shaft second end, coupling into said cavity toprovide a rotational torque on the shaft, and said torque producingdevice is attached to said shaft by a coupling arrangement.
 2. The boatanchor as recited in claim 1, wherein the interior diameter of said tubeis greater than the outside diameter of said shaft creating a space orgap, and the width of said space or gap is such as to accommodate apassage of debris out from between opposing outer and inner surfaces ofsaid shaft and cylindrical tube.
 3. The boat anchor as recited in claim3, wherein, with the shaft centered in the cylindrical tube, the spaceor gap is from one eighth to one half of an inch.
 4. The boat anchor asrecited in claim 1, wherein a pair or blades or fins are individuallysecured along the cylindrical tube or sleeve longitudinal axis toproject outwardly from opposite sides thereof.
 5. The boat anchor asrecited in claim 1, wherein the auger has at least one turn.
 6. The boatanchor as received in claim 1, wherein the torque coupling device drivermeans is a hand bar that includes a body with hand engaging bars extendsoppositely therefrom and an attachment collar arranged for connection tothe top end of the shaft.
 7. The boat anchor as recited in claim 1,wherein the torque producing device is a power device that includes abody wherefrom hand engaging means extend out from opposite sidesthereof and has a sided drive extending therefrom for fitting in a sidedopening formed in the shaft second or top end for turning said shaft. 8.The boat anchor as recited in claim 1, wherein the mooring lineattachment means is a ring that is secured onto, to extending outwardlyfrom the cylindrical tube outer surface, proximate to a top end thereof.9. The boat anchor as recited in claim 1, wherein the mooring lineattachment means includes a body for attachment onto, to extendoutwardly from, the cylindrical tube outer surface, proximate to a topend thereof, and has a guide pulley pivotally mounted thereto, and apawl secured to said body to pivot towards a sheave of said guidepulley, moving teeth formed along a side of said pawl into engagementwith a mooring line that has passed around said guide pulley sheave.